Maintenance reminder OFF

I'm having a strange issue that may or may not be easily solved. I read the manual and it really wasn't helpful. My maintenance reminder just says off next to the wrench. It shows no mileage and hasn't since i bought the car 10 days ago. I've tried to hold the button on that screen with the key out of the ignition and it will beep and flash but nothing happens. If i hit the button while it's flashing it just stops flashing. Am I being silly and missing something here?